John Alden List of Famous Descendants

Mayflower Pilgrims: John Alden (c1599-1687) and Priscilla Mullins (1602-1680) were both the only of their families to land at Plymouth Colony and leave a posterity. Their daughter Elizabeth Alden (1625-1717) was the first girl born there.

Priscilla Mullins watched her whole family die during that first winter in America. She is known to literary history as the unrequited love of the newly-widowed Captain Miles Standish, the colony's military advisor, in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1858 poem "The Courtship of Miles Standish".

They married in 1622 and 10 children survive to adulthood.

Research Notes

John Alden challenges John Howland for the claim to having the greatest number of descendants in America.

Notable descendants include: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Ichabod Alden, Orson Welles, Dan Quayle, Raquel Welch, Frank Nelson Doubleday, Samuel Eliot Morison, Gamaliel Bradford, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, Herbert Henry Dow, Martha Graham, Adlai Stevenson III, Jan Garrigue Masaryk, Dick Van Dyke, Julia Child, William Cullen Bryant, John Trumbull, Ned Lamont, Matt Hasselbeck, Marilyn Monroe and Hayden Alden.

John Alden - Disambiguation page

Family Trees

A

Adams

Adams, Brooks (1848-1927) - son of Charles Francis Adams (1807-1886) -an American historian and a critic of capitalism.
Adams, Charles Francis I (1807-1886) - Diplomat and US Ambassador to England for Abraham Lincoln during the US Civil War, son of Pres. John Quincy Adams (1767-1848).
Adams, Charles Francis II (1835-1915) - son of Charles Francis Adams (1807-1886) - A colonel in the Union Army, railroad regulator and executive, an author of historical works, and a member of the Massachusetts Park Commission.
Adams, Charles Francis III (1866-1954) - 44th Secretary of the US Navy, son of John Quincy Adams (1833-1894).
Adams, Charles Francis IV (1910-1999) - 1st President of Raytheon Company.
Adams, George C (1863-1900) - son of John Quincy Adams (1833-1894)- a former head coach of the Harvard University football program from 1890 to 1892.
Adams, John, Pres. (1735-1826) - ( JAdams3, HBass, RAlden,JAlden) - 2nd US President.
Adams, John Quincy, Pres. (1767-1848) - sixth US President, son of Pres. John Adams (1735-1826).
Adams, John Q (1833-1894) - son of Charles Francis Adams (1807-1886), American lawyer and politician.
Adams, Henry Brooks (1838-1918) - son of Charles Francis Adams (1807-1886), a prominent American Historian.
Adams, Thomas B (1910-1997) - ( JAdams8, CFAdams7, CHAdams6, JQAdams5, JAdams4, JAdams3, HBass, RAlden,JAlden) - a 20th-century American business executive, writer, academician, and political candidate.

Alden

Alden, John, Capt (1622-1701) - (oldest son) - public figure, naval captain in battle in King William's War 1691, and accused at Salem witch trials in 1692.
Alden, Alvin B (1818-1882) - ( SAlden, IAlden, NAlden, JAlden3, JAlden2, JAlden1) - American politician and businessman - mayor of Portage, Wisconsin and state assemblyman.
Blanche Ray Alden (1870-1934) : ( PWAlden, WBAlden, JAlden6, JAlden5, SAlden4, JAlden3, JAlden2, JAlden1) - American musician/composer better known by the pseudonym Theodora Dutton
Chris Alden, American entrepreneur
Alden, Cynthia May Westover (1862-1931) (wife of JBAlden, EPAlden, IAlden, JAAlden6, JAlden5, JAlden4, HWAlden3, DAlden2, JAlden1) - American journalist/author/municipal employee
Ginger Alden, American actress/model - fiancée to Elvis Presley when he died.
Alden, Harold (1890-1964) : ( DAAlden, TWAlden, AAlden, TAlden, IAlden, NAlden, JAlden3, JAlden2, JAlden1) - American astronomer - He is noted mainly for measuring stellar parallax, the proper motion of stars and long period variable stars. The crater Alden on the far side of the Moon is named in his honor.
Henry Mills Alden, American author/publication editor
Howard Alden, American jazz guitarist
Alden, Ichabod, Col (1739-1778) - ( SAlden3, DAlden2, JAlden1) - was an American Revolutionary War officer and commanding officer of 7th Massachusetts Regiment during the Cherry Valley Massacre.
Isabella Macdonald Alden, American author
Alden, James, Adm (1810-1877) - ( JAlden5, DAlden4, BAlden3, DAlden2, JAlden1) - a rear admiral in the United States Navy. Participated in global exploratory cruises (1838-42), and naval battles of the Mexican-American War (1846-48) and the US Civil War (1861-65).
Alden, Jerome (1921-1997) = American playwright and father of renowned opera directors Christopher Alden (1949) and David Alden (1949).
Joseph Alden, American scholar/educator/author
Kay Alden, American television writer
Mary Alden, American film/stage actress
Norman Alden, American television/film actor
Raymond Macdonald Alden, American scholar/educator
Raymond W. Alden III, American educator/academic administrator
Alden, Timothy, Rev. (1771-1839) ( TAlden5, EAlden, JAlden3, JAlden2, JAlden1) - American clergyman and founder of Allegheny College, his book in 1814, American Epitaphs, was first published account of the courtship of his Ancestors John and Priscilla Alden.
Scott Alden, American FBI special agent and assistant to J. Edgar Hoover
Vernon Roger Alden, American academic administrator

B

Bates

Belknap

Belknap, William B, Jr (1885-1965) - ( ATSilliman, BSilliman6, BSilliman5, MFish, RPeabody, WPeabody, EAlden, JAlden1) - Hardware manufacturer, horse and sheep breeder, Economist, Academician, Politician
Beknap, Eleanor (1876-1964) (sister of William) was an artist, genealogist, writer, socialite, and philanthropist
Belknap - It is through this lineage that the Belknap and Humphrey families of Kentucky descended. Descendants of Elizabeth Alden Pabodie and William Pabodie include Alice Belknap Hawkes, Dr. Edward Cornelius Humphrey, Alice Humphrey Morgan, economist Thomas MacGillivray Humphrey, and Barbara Morgan Meade, co-founder of the Washington, D.C. bookstore, Politics and Prose.

Bradford

Bradford, Jerusha (1770-1833) - ( GBradford5, GBradford4, HRogers, EPabodie, EAlden, JAlden1) - married master shipbuilder tycoon, Ezra Weston (1772-1842), AKA: King Caesar of Duxbury.

Bryant

Bryant, William C (1794-1878) -( SSnell, ESnell, ZSnell, AAlden, JAlden2, JAlden1) - American poet and long time editor of New York Evening Post, abolitionist supporter of Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865).

C

Julia Child (1912-2004) - chef

F

Fish, Mary (1736-1818) ( RPeabody, WPeabody, EAlden, JAlden1) - Heroine of the Revolutionary War and subject of the movie Mary Silliman's War. Married to Gen. Gold Selleck Silliman.

G

George Bird Grinnell (1849-1938) - Audobon Society founder

H

Humphrey Children of Alice Trumball Silliman (1846-1890) (see below / - ( ATSilliman, BSilliman6, BSilliman5, MFish, RPeabody, WPeabody, EAlden, JAlden1) - who married William Richardson Belknap. It is through this lineage that the Belknap and Humphrey families of Kentucky descended. Descendants of Elizabeth Alden Pabodie and William Pabodie include Eleanor Belknap Humphrey, William Burke Belknap the younger, Alice Belknap Hawkes, Dr. Edward Cornelius Humphrey, Alice Humphrey Morgan, economist Thomas MacGillivray Humphrey, and Barbara Morgan Meade, co-founder of the Washington, D.C. bookstore, Politics and Prose.

J

L

Longfellow

Longfellow, Henry W (1807-1882) - ZWadswoth, PWadsworth, SSampson, PBartlett, RPeabody, EAlden, JAlden1) - The romance of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins was the subject of Longfellow's famous story, The Courtship of Miles Standish.Famous American Poet, Writer and Harvard Professor.
Longfellow, Charles A (1844-1893) - Snuck away to join the Civil War where he was gravely wounded. He inspired Longfellow's poem I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.
Longfellow, Ernest W (1845-1921) - renowned artist and art collector who donated a sizeable collection to the Boston Museum of Art.
Longfellow, Alice M (1850-1928) - noteworth philanthropist and historical preservationist. Never married.
Edith Longfellow (1853-1915) - married Richard Henry Dana III, son of the popular writer Richard Henry Dana, Jr., author of Two Years Before the Mast.

M

N

O

P

Q

Quayle, Dan (1947) - ( JDQuayle, MPCline, ABurras, OBurras, SStandish, PStandish, ZStandish2 ZStandish1, EStandish, SAlden, JAlden1) - American politician, 44th Vice President of the US (1989-93), US Congressman and US Senator.
Quayle, James C (1921-2000) - Newspaper publisher.

R

Radcliffe

Nathan Radcliffe,
Annalise Radcliffe,
Yadira Radcliffe,
Thomas Radcliffe,
Susan Radcliffe, others... ==

S

Sherman, Edward S (1818-1882) - ( SStaples, JStaples, HStandish, EStandish, SAlden, JAlden1) - Edward removed to Fairfield CT, was a dealer in metals and trustee of The Hopkins School. Grandson of the famous founding father.

Silliman

Silliman, Alice (1846-1890) - ( BSilliman6, BSilliman5, MFish, RPeabody, WPeabody, EAlden, JAlden1) - married President Belknap Hardware and Manufacturing Company
Silliman, Benjamin, Jr (1816-1885) - professor of chemistry at Yale
Silliman, Benjamin, Sr (1776-1864) - 1st professor of chemistry at Yale. First person to distill petroleum, born in tavern in 1776 as his mother fled invading Redcoats who just burned down their village. Son of Gen Silliman, Revolutionary War hero.
Stephens, Aiden (2008-2021) Kid.
Shaeffer-Boutte, Kimberly (1985-2021) Mother.

W

Raquel Welch (1940): (JSHall, CLAdams, JWAdams, EAdams, SAdams6, JAdams5, SAdams4, HBass, RAlden,JAlden) = Famous Hollywood celebrity actress.

Wadsworth

Wadsworth, Henry, Lt (1785-1804) - ( PWadsworth, SSampson, PBartlett, RPeabody, EAlden, JAlden1) - US Midshipman who died in the Battle of Tripoli during the Barbary Pirate Wars.
Wadsworth, A.S., Commodore (1790-1851) - US Naval Officer with over 40 years duty. Was 1st Leiutenant on the USS Constitution during it's famous battle with the Guerriere in the War of 1812.
Wadsworth, Peleg, Gen (1748-1829) - Revolutionary War officer serving in various capacities including aide to General Artemas Ward and later as brigadier general of militia-gained fame for escaping British capture and helping liberate the city of Bagaduce (now named Castine), Maine from British control.

Weston

Weston, Ezra I - "King Caesar I", famous shipbuilder of Duxbury MA. Also a veteran of several battles in the American Revolutionary War.
Weston, Ezra II - ( EWeston5, EWeston4, DDelano3, RAlden2, JAlden1) - "King Caesar II"> famous shipbuilder. At one time the wealthiest man in all of Plymouth County.
Weston, Timothy (1749-1783) - (brother of Ezra I) commanded a privateer (schooner 100 tons) during the Revolutionary War and was lost with his vessel and all onboard while cruising in the Bay of Fundy.

Church Leaders

Rev. Noah Alden (1725-1797) : ( JAlden3, JAlden2, JAlden1) -was a Baptist minister for 12 years at Stafford, Connecticut and then 31 years at Bellingham, Massachusetts.

War Veterans

American Revolutionary War

Bradford, Gamaliel, Col (1731-1807) - ( GBradford1, HRogers, EPabodie, EAlden2, JAlden1) - Officer in the Revolutionar War Army, commander of the 14th Massachusetts Regt.

French Quasi-War of 1800

Bradford, Gamaliel, Cptn (1763-1824) - ( GBradford2, GBradford1, ( GBradford1, HRogers, EPabodie, EAlden2, JAlden1) - Privateersman in Revolutionary War and French Quasi-War of 1800. In command of Industry, he routed four French privateers at Gibraltar, though he sustained an injury that would cost him his leg.

US Civil War

Philo Washington Alden (1840-1920) : ( WBAlden, JAlden6, JAlden5, SAlden4, JAlden3, JAlden2, JAlden1) - 45th Massachusetts Infantry.
Weston, Alden B (1844-1919) - ( GBWeston, JBradford, GBradford5, GBradford4, HRogers, EPabodie, EAlden, JAlden1) - Veteran of US Civil War, 2nd N.H. Inf.